PM: A Hunter's Game
by Project Moirae
Summary: A Hunter escapes the Arklay Grounds, taking off into the direction of Raccoon City. Wesker is forced to set STARS on the case. With fatal consequences. Rewriting Resident Evil History by the members of Project Moirae. See Profile for joining details.
1. Chapter 1

-1Jill stared out the window of the STARS force vehicle, wincing as it passed over a speed bump smacking her forehead against the tinted glass with an audible thump.

"Ow." she lifted a hand to touch the reddening area, but someone beat her to it. Chris touched around it with a frown.

"You okay?" he asked gently, blue eyes filled with concern. She stared at them for a second before blinking out of her trance and smiling.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Just a bump. Not like I got shot or anything." Jill spoke with a grin, recalling several close calls with the tiny metal things.

Beside them, Barry rolled his eyes at Brad, who grinned slightly. They were both wondering if those two would ever actually hook up. The tension between them was enough to bind with a rope, cut in half and there would still be ample to burn on a funeral pyre. Barry was sorely tempted just to shove the two together in a room so he could look around the STARS office without espying those two looking at the other when they weren't paying attention.

At the front, Captain Wesker merely ignored the small talk in the back, eyes locked on the road, hidden behind the darkened sunglasses. The fact the team were investigating the damage a _Hunter_ had done worried him. The Umbrella team sent out the previous night had been about as useful as Brad at a horror movie. Now it was up to STARS…he'd just have to figure out how to stop them from actually seeing the damned thing.

Finally, after listening to Valentine's head banging against the window a few more times, and more of Redfield's disgusting sympathies for her, he stopped the van, just across the road from the Polier's family home. The Alpha team clambered out the back, standing around Wesker in a tight nit group as he issued orders.

"Barry, you and Vickers will deal with Mrs. Polier. Chris, Jill, find out what the neighbours know, what they have done with the knowledge and whether they've noticed anything unnatural recently. Joseph and I will investigate the crime scene itself." The crime scene was fairly close to the outskirt settlement of Raccoon, barely a few minutes away from the buildings.

Before anyone could move off to their respective duties, however, a familiar looking car rolled up behind the STARS and Wesker's face clouded angrily. The last thing he needed was for that damned reporter to appear. The blasted woman just couldn't take a hint!

Alyssa Ashcroft stepped from the vehicle, looking slightly flustered when she realised she'd just pulled up in front of the entire Alpha team when she was meant to be driving in the opposite direction. So much for the sneak approach. The reporter decided to play ignorant. "What?" she called out as the S.T.A.R.S filed out of their cars. "What are you guys doing here?"

Wesker left the team where they were, and approached the reporter, who was apparently playing the innocent. If anything at all, it managed to drive his annoyance level up. "Miss Ashcroft, what a coincidence. I will not bother to ask for your reasons this time. Please climb back into the car and drive to the RPD. You have an appointment with STARS Bravo team for today. If my note from earlier wasn't clear enough, I will repeat myself. Your presence here is not asked for."

_Talk about bad timing_. Chris mentally winced, feeling sorry for the reporter. Getting chewed out by Wesker wasn't the most fun thing in the world, he knew only too well from experience. At his side, Barry tugged on Joseph's arm and the two moved off, intent on going to the crime scene with or without the pissed off Wesker.

The Captain's irritation didn't come unexpected to Alyssa, but it certainly was striking - enough to nearly make her shrink back in response. Wesker was cold, certainly, but this was something else altogether. "You're right," she said. "Honestly, I didn't know this was where you were being sent. I was asked to come here by the _Daily Raccoon's_ editor." She gave a wary glance at the house and then back at S.T.A.R.S, noticing their full armour for the first time. What if it really was something crazy? She would have no way to protect herself once S.T.A.R.S had to start shooting things. For a moment she really did consider leaving.

_But then I'd never hear the end of it from him,_ she told herself. The editor would just send others out, like Ben Bertolucci. _That_ she could not let happen.

"Mrs. Polier _requested_ to speak to the newspaper," Alyssa added. "If I can talk to her for a minute-"

"Mrs. Polier doesn't know the procedures," Wesker cut her off. "She will talk to the police first of all, and then act accordingly to what _we_ deem appropriate."

Waving off any comments that the reporter might be about to give, he continued. "You have signed a paper that requires you to not circulate news, which the RPD doesn't approve for the time you are with STARS. I don't care where you get your orders from normally, Miss Ashcroft, but for this week you get them from me." He crossed his arms in addition to his words.

"I don't want to have an untrained, unarmed civilian hindering my team in an investigation. You can see the heavy gear in use. This is the wrong place for you."

Alyssa huffed, more out of instinctual reaction rather than planned response. Rolling her eyes, she replied, "Well, you can go ahead and send me home, but the woman's neighbour already called half the papers. Try getting _them_ to sign wavers."

The journalist crossed her arms and leaned against the car, glaring at nothing in particular. She hadn't tried the temper tantrum route yet, and seeing as she was sincerely angry about the situation, Alyssa figured it wouldn't hurt to try.

Chris lifted a hand to his face, hiding the smile that came to it at the reporter's action. Jill frowned at the marksman, evidently not amused at him. "Come on Jill; let's leave them to the lover spat." He grinned and tugged her arm leading her to the Polier's neighbour's house.

"Chris! They aren't lovers!…Are they?" She raised an eyebrow at the idea of Wesker and Alyssa. Amusing but very unlikely, especially the way they treated each other.

"How should I know? It's not like I keep tabs on Wesker, you know what he's like, all secretive 'n shit." Chris shrugged, heading towards a house to the left of the Polier's.

Wesker took one final look at the reporter, sorely tempted to pull out his Colt and blow a beautiful gaping hole right through that nosy little mind of hers, but forced himself away before his hand slipped towards it's holster. It wouldn't do to cause a fuss in front of his team now would it?

"Let's go," he told Joseph as he caught up again and shook his head as he thought about Alyssa. He muttered something under his breath, but it was too faint to understand. Presumably something about wanting to shoot the reporter no doubt.

They reached the crime scene, Wesker briefly turning his head to assure that she was not following them. When focusing on the remains of blood and gore where the body had been, his lips formed a tight line. The Hunter had done a considerably job.

"Don't touch anything," he told Joseph. "If it's an animal you want to avoid picking up any illnesses." Or mutagenic viruses in that case...

Joseph nodded, warily looking around the inside of the house at all the gore. "So he was attacked in the forest, and managed to make it here before he died?" he asked the captain. If it were so, that was something short of remarkable, seeing as Joseph saw how the body ended up looking back at the briefing.

Brad in the meantime sat outside on the porch with Mrs. Polier and Barry. The woman's eyes had been spent of all their tears for the time being. She managed dry sobs, but that was all she could really do to grieve for her husband. From the corner of his eye, Brad caught the reporter walking away from her car and to the neighbour's house, probably to ask them questions instead.

He gave a little smile when he spotted Chris, who turned and stopped the reporter.

"I'm sorry Miss Ashcroft, I can't let you go any further." Chris gave a wry smile, holding up his hands to stop her. "Not only is this a crime scene, with active investigation and interrogation currently going on, but I believe our own Captain Wesker specifically told you to remove yourself before whatever did this returns to find more prey."

Jill couldn't help but grin absently at Chris's last words. Perhaps Captain Wesker wouldn't even mind if the thing came back for more prey and picked Alyssa. She didn't hold any personal grudges against the woman, but she had to realize when stubbornness was good and when not. In this case it wouldn't get her very far.

"Miss Ashcroft," she said, standing beside Chris. "We must insist that you keep away from the crime scene until it's considered safe by the police. You're better not going against the Captain's orders. He can have you removed forcefully and that wouldn't be very pleasant." she didn't say it as a threat, merely informing Alyssa of the possible consequences. She didn't want the reporter to get on the Captain's bad side, if for no other reason that it was them who'd have to endure it for the rest of the week, and she knew from experience that she didn't want to experience it again.

Alyssa glared at the two STARS members. "Okay, he said _nothing_ about the neighbour's house being part of the crime scene. And it _was_ the neighbour who requested to speak with us in the first place." Still, Alyssa walked back to the cars, her expression still looking a little defiant. The story really wasn't worth the handcuffs, she figured. The journalist took her brooding position against her car, not quite ready to get inside. _I'll leave when they leave,_ she stubbornly decided.

Inside the house, Barry walked over to Wesker, a frown on his lined face. "Captain, I found a Gun Cupboard. There's a rifle, a flare gun, a pistol and a lot of ammo missing from it sir. I think that's the reason the son took off. He's planning on hunting down whatever killed his dad." Barry's face was grave, locking onto Wesker, waiting for the order to find the boy before he shot himself in the foot. Before Wesker could reply, Joseph appeared.

"The dog's missing sir. If Barry's right, which he usually is, then it means he took the dog to track his father's killer as well as the guns to return the favour." Joseph looked to the captain with a questioning expression. "So what next, Captain?"

Wesker took a moment to push the sunglasses further up his nose. "The possibility is comes into question. Whoever took the weapon ventured out into the forest, which is all we can be sure of at the moment." Whether the son and his dog were still alive was an entirely different question…Wesker doubted it. "Gather the team outside," he told the two Alphas. "Every minute we spend here could be the last for Mr. Polier's son."

"Yes sir!" Joseph was gone in a flash, Barry following more slowly. Within moments, the team was back outside the STARS vehicle awaiting orders.

Wesker motioned for them to follow a bit off the road, double checking that the reporter - who, much to his annoyance had yet again disobeyed him - didn't catch a word.

"We'll move out in teams of two. Barry and Joseph, Vickers and Jill, and you, Chris, will come with me. Try to scout out as much as possible, but remain in visual contact with your partner. I want a radio check every five minutes, sooner if you find something." He looked at them, adding, "Stay on guard. You have seen the picture. And don't forget about the son. He's armed. We don't know what he's seen, or how he is going to react to our presence. Chance is he will be hostile, so don't take any risks."

"Let's move."

--

End of Chapter 1

Transcribed by laraanita

Roleplayed by:

Emerald - Alyssa &Joeseph & Brad

Chaed - Wesker & Jill

Laraanita - Chris

1sttruth - Barry


	2. Chapter 2

-1The team had split into multiple groups for two, Chris with Wesker, Jill with Brad, and Joseph with Barry. Each small unit had broken from the others and gone in a direction of their choice, Wesker and Chris dead on, Jill and Brad to the right, and Joe and Barry to the left.

Wesker and Chris were just keeping within each other sights, Chris somewhere to Wesker's right, he could hear the man cursing as he stubbed his toe against a root. The Captain paused a moment, slipping the stand issue Samurai Edge into its holster and pulling out his weapon on choice, his Colt Magnum, with a special little punch created just for B.O.W's.

Jill and Brad, meantime, had found something, or rather, somethings. Jill lifted the radio to her lips, glancing at Brad. "Captain Wesker, we've found some animal traps. Thought it best to warn you and the rest of the team. Keep your wits about you. Valentine out."

"I don't like this Jill." Brad whimpered, gazing at the traps like they were about to spring up and eat him. A transmission came through the radio, it was Joseph's voice, followed by a reply from the Captain himself.

"Captain, we have some recent tracks here. It's possible that Mr. Poiler's son and the dog headed in a southeast direction."

"Understood. Disable any traps you come across. Joseph, Barry, continue to follow the trail. Everyone else adopt a south-eastern course, but try to cover as much ground as possible. Wesker out."

Jill slipped the radio back into it's spot on her belt and caught the decent sized stick Brad threw her. Standing back, she jabbed at the trap, it's jagged metal jaws snapping the stick. The STARS pilot jumped. "I don't like this at all…"

"Neither to I, Brad." Jill dropped the remains of the stick. "Neither do I. South east, you heard the Captain…" They moved on.

Wesker signalled Chris to his right, the marksman moved and narrowly missed stepping in two things. One was a bear trap, the other was could only be described as a mini Godzilla footprint. He stared, wondering what the devil made it.

"Captain…" It came out as a strangled half gasp. Wesker whirled, Colt at the ready for blasting the face off the Hunter, instead only seeing Chris, gazing down beside a bear trap. "…I think you should see this…"

_Either Chris's tracking skills have considerably lessened since last time, or he's just found a trace of the Hunter without being aware of it._

The three pointed deepening in the ground confirmed his assumptions. He tried to think of an animal that had similar prints, but apart reptiles or long extinct dinosaurs not much matched. Instead he bent down and examined the mark, careful to keep away from the trap beside.

"It's fresh. Whatever did this was here not long ago." He stood up again, looked around them, before his gaze fixed on Chris. "I don't know what did this, but the size of the claws match the wounds on the corpse."

He then pointed to the trail on the ground, that ended abruptly a few feet further away. "We're dealing with something that's using the trees as means of transportation. Stay on guard."

He turned on the radio and repeated the same to the rest of the team, silently hoping that the Hunter had removed itself from the proximity of the village. STARS didn't know what they were really up against and he couldn't tell them. If the Hunter found them, they had no chance.

Chris was still staring down at the track, his mind busy trying to build up an image of the creature. What he got was a comical cross between a monkey, a frog and a lizard. Frankly it was insane looking, and for some reason bright purple.

Shaking his head, he pushed the image aside. "Captain, what the hell kind of creature makes that kind of track? I've never seen anything like it...Unless you count the Godzilla movies...Have you?"

Had he ever seen anything like it? If not for the seriousness of the situation Wesker would have laughed, but his face remained stern, thoughtful. He'd seen things the Alpha beside him probably couldn't even imagine. He knew what it was. He knew it exactly, but sometimes he wished he could push the images away of what it was _capable_ of doing.

"It might be bear, or at least something of that size," he offered, though Chris's Godzilla sounded more likely. "We know that it's hostile and intelligent enough to evade the numerous traps. We shouldn't underestimate it." He knew he wouldn't.

Chris blinked at him. "A bear?" he repeated, sounding critical. Frankly, the marksman didn't think a bear made this type of track. He'd _seen_ bear tracks before, and this certainly wasn't one of those.  
"I don't think it's a bear Captain, though it could be the same size..." Chris trailed off as he spotted his Captain's firearm.

_What the hell? Wesker doesn't use that thing unless..._

Unless the situation got serious fast and they needed bigger guns. At that moment in time, Chris would have preferred one of those himself, already getting the drift that his Captain was taking no chances with this situation, and that he wanted it to end now and with as little trouble as possible.

_God damn I need to go and buy myself a Magnum. Maybe a shotgun…a flamethrower would be good…Oooh, a grenade launcher!_

Wesker frowned at Chris, wondering what the devil he was grinning about.

--

With Alyssa

--

Alyssa calmly watched them enter the forested area behind the Poiler's house. Just as she was considering her options, one of her options suddenly came to her. Mrs. Poiler had left the porch and was approaching her, her dry red-rimmed eyes looking determined.

"You're with the press, right?" the woman asked in a shaky voice. Alyssa nodded. "Well, there's something you should probably know: this isn't the first time someone's gone missing in those woods and you probably know that. I know the police want to keep it all a secret, but don't these secrets just cause more people to be killed? About a month ago, Laura from the down the street chased her ex-husband into those woods. She came out, but she never saw him again."

"Why didn't you tell S.T.A.R.S this?" Alyssa asked. The woman shook her head, saying nothing else. Alyssa suddenly thought back to a certain someone she hadn't thought about in a _long_ time. Kurt. He had also disappeared in the Arklay forest. She never did get to figure out what happened to her close colleague (well, they were closer than _that_). All kinds of conspiracy theories had run through her head at the time, and it took her a lot of work to force herself to forget about Kurt. Now it was like hearing his story all over again. That same duty-bound feeling she had back then resurfaced. She watched Mrs. Poiler head over to the neighbour's house, and Alyssa was torn between driving home and running into that forest to look for Kurt again.

She hadn't thought about Kurt in such a long time... didn't she owe it to him to search at least one last time?

_Don't be stupid,_ she tried to tell herself. _You're unarmed, and it's been YEARS since you've had a lead._ Alyssa had her suspicions, all of which had led to dead ends no matter which way she went, and soon enough she had given up on finding out what happened to Kurt all together, even though the others at the _Daily Raccoon_ were still willing to help her. Now it seemed as if she were on the trail again, except she was in somewhat of a daze.

Without knowing how, she was suddenly _in_ the woods. How deep, she couldn't really tell. There was no sign of anyone else around. Who knows how far they had already ventured, or whether or not they were coming back? What if they'd gone in here just to lose her?

_Stop being paranoid!_

Alyssa gasped, nearly letting out a cry as something inhuman-sounding shrieked in the distance, echoing madly against the trees. A flock of frightened birds burst out of the tree tops, only accenting the inhumane sound.

--

STARS

--

Wesker shot around and pointed the Colt into the direction the screech had come from. Chris swung his gun up at the trees, crouching low enough that his knee was dangerously close to the open trap. The marksman eyed the trees warily, waiting, watching with an experienced eye, wishing he had that grenade launcher he was just day dreaming of.

Wesker couldn't see them, but heard a flock of birds fly away in a hurry. Unmistakable. It was here somewhere, and judging by the sound, not very far away.

"Come on Godzilla, your not getting away this time." Chris muttered to himself. Glancing at his Captain, he raised his voice slightly, just enough for the blond to hear him.

"That was definitely not a bear."

--

"What the hell was that!?" Brad exclaimed, pointing his gun at the trees. He was one second short of turning and leaving right then and there.

As soon as the scream died down, Jill grabbed Brad's arm, roughly pulling at it. "Don't you think of leaving me alone with whatever is out there." She glared at him in warning, then let go of his arm. "Besides, according to all modern horror movies, it's going to get _you_ first if you run. Come on, let's go."

Weapon at the ready she proceeded, warily observing the trees and the surroundings around her. What animal made such sounds?

As Jill let go of his arm Brad followed her closely. He had no intention to run anywhere. In no way he wanted to be alone in that damn forest with some bloodthirsty animal around! If it was an animal... Scared was an understatement, a great understatement.  
His eyes darted from left to right, from the top of the trees to the creepy bushes around him: he could feel the creature's eyes upon his every move... oh no, he definitely wasn't going to leave Jill's side.

--

"Caution now," Wesker spoke to Chris in a low voice, not bothering to comment on the bear-matter. Turning on the radio he gave instructions to the rest of the team. "Eyes open, cover each other's backs. No gunshots were heard. That leaves two possibilities: no contact between the creature and the son at all, or silent assassination. Joseph, Barry, do your tracks lead towards that sound?"

--

Barry put the radio to his ear and pressed the respond button. "Most likely, sir. We'll proceed onwards for a few more metres, see if we can find anything and wait for you guys," he informed him, quickly turning off the radio and hooking it back on his belt.

He looked back at Joseph. "Be careful. Whatever that was doesn't sound very friendly," he warned grimly, raising the rifle and creeping through the trees as he continued onwards.  
That was one major understatement on his part, considering that no animal Barry had ever seen could make a sound like the one that echoed in the wood. He should know, having taken his daughters to the zoo many times and seeing every animal there was, hearing their cries and roars as the people passed them; whatever that sound was didn't come from an animal he knew.

He walked through the trees carefully, feeling the fearful and oppressive atmosphere weigh down on him, his eyes darting around the treetops to see if he could spot the animal lurking around. He gazed back down at the Polier boy's footprints to see if he was still following the trail when he noticed a strange set of tracks in the dirt, what looked like a lizard footprint that had grown to enormous sizes and a small puddle of a dark crimson liquid; in fact, it looked more like-  
He snapped his head around to face Joseph. "Stay on your guard. I think that thing is nearby." He quickly pulled out his radio and switched it on. "Captain, we found some blood and a set of weird tracks. I think we are close to it."

Joseph gripped his rifle, more than happy to switch from the handgun. The apprehension he felt had reached a point he had never experienced on any mission. That scream he heard was nothing of this earth, and old family superstitions came unbidden into his mind as his eyes scanned the path before them.

"When the hell did this shit turn into Jurassic Park?" Joseph demanded as he found the giant footprints that Barry had spotted. He took a deep breath, forcing himself to keep his cool. One second of panic could mean the end for any of them.

--

Alyssa

--

Alyssa, on the other hand, had no qualms about turning back and heading home, finally regretting that she hadn't listened to Wesker earlier. He might have been a cold jackass, yes, but he was nothing like Irons - the man knew what the hell he was talking about when he ordered her to leave. She turned, ready to run even in her current shoes, which were made for the business world and not the forest. Suddenly she stopped dead in her tracks speechless at what was before her. A giant lizard/frog? Either way it didn't matter. She wasn't going to stare at it long enough to get the details. It immediately gave chase and she ran like hell the other way.

Alyssa was pretty certain it would catch up to her, as her shoes didn't exactly help matters - what with the gnarled tree branches spanning across the trails and uneven ground covered in rocks. She was thankful they weren't high heels, but she was pretty certain she could feel the damn thing close to her neck.

Her foot caught on something then, and she yelled out as she fell face first into the dirt, cringing as she expected the thing's claws to get her. Instead she heard a huge thump, like the thing was falling too, but it landed loudly someway ahead of her. From the ground Alyssa could see it sniff the air for just a moment, but she didn't wait to see it turn to face her. Alyssa frantically crawled behind some tree as it ran back towards where she had been on the dirt path. Not caring much for direction, Alyssa ran again, not looking back to see if the thing was following. She could hear it, and that was enough for her.

Alyssa ran through some prickly shrubbery, ignoring the scratches it gave the sides of her face, and burst into a clearing, cursing loudly as she collided into Wesker's back-

--

STARS

--

Barry's voice battled against a sudden static during his next transmission. Wesker didn't catch everything, but the words 'weird' and 'blood' were enough to give him a picture on what the Alpha member had wanted to say. Still, he activated the radio and said, "Barry, repeat that." The static sound yelled back at him, forcing Wesker to turn down the volume of the receiver. What the hell? "Change to another frequency. Line 2."

Chris looked over concerned. His own radio was spurting out the same. At the order, he changed it to line two and got a better signal. Slipping the radio back where it sat on his belt, he stepped forwards again, keeping an eye out while Wesker used the radio.

The Captain waited a few seconds for the rest of the team to adjust their radios, then spoke again. "Follow the tracks, but be careful. We have reason to believe that the animal attacks from the trees as well. Copy that?"

He was about to check his radio for a reply, when something suddenly slammed into his back, catching him off guard. There was a flash of thought - _Hunter_ - then a loud, metallic _SNAP!_ and a wave of pain shooting up his right leg. He faintly registered a tug at the limb when he lost his balance, a cry of pain escaping his lips, when he landed on the ground.

-_Fuck-_

His hands shot to the area of pain immediately. They came back warm and sticky feeling cold metal against the leg. The trap had closed in around the leg, its steel teeth digging deep into the flesh.

Chris froze at the pained yell, turning, this thoughts turning to the worst case scenario, the Captain brutally murdered by that monster. When he actually looked, it wasn't that bad but it was still _bad_. He gaped, horrified at the sight before him. His Captain...in a bear trap. Pushing the swear words and panic aside, Chris all but dropped his gun and radio from his hands and flew to Wesker's aide.

Wesker groaned, barely registering the trigger of his fall, Alyssa. His attention was caught by the something that stuck against the trouser at a weird angle. Had there been a snap? _God, don't let it be the bone... _He fumbled along the metal jaws, slipping on the blood. _Pull it open, shit, too much blood - _He managed to get his hands around the metal, trying to pull it apart, but the only result was more blood. More pain.

"Oh shit." was the first words out of the marksman's mouth. The amount of blood staining the Captain's trouser leg was actually scaring him. In fact, the main thing scaring him was -

"It's stuck," _in your leg, damnit, toothed in your flesh_, "You need to force it open, get the goddamn thing off my leg!" The Hunter momentarily forgotten, Wesker only concern was why it didn't stop bleeding. There was too much blood.

_Oh god is that bone? Oh please don't let it be bone..._Chris prayed.

"Don't move." Chris cautioned, placing his hands on either side of the trap. "I'll try and open the trap." Hauling at the two sides, the strain showing on his face, he attempted to set his Captain free, but evidently brute strength wasn't working for him.

Chris's attempts to open the trap triggered another wave of pain. "Wait," he ordered with a gasp, "Stop... it's not going to work... stop it." Not to mention that he didn't know if he could take that much again. The metal jaws just seemed to have locked even harder, unimpressed by their attempts to remove them.

"Shit." The marksman cursed, and turned to grab his radio. "Barry, Barry come in, I can't get this trap open, it slammed around Wesker's leg, I need your help." In his mild moment of panic, he hoped Wesker wouldn't actually mind his subordinate not using his title. It was, after all, an emergency.

--

"Captain! Captain! Respond, over!" Barry yelled down the radio when he didn't hear an answer from Wesker. The only sound he got in response was a wave of static.

"Goddammit!" he cursed, sticking the radio back on his belt. He turned back to Joseph. "Lets get back there ASAP!" Hearing that cry of pain over the radio was just not what he'd been wanting to hear from the Captain, and he couldn't get through to anyone, god damn radio, piece of crap.

Barry took off at a jog back to the others position, looking back over his shoulder to see Joseph following him, their recent footprints pointing the way back, but he still kept wary of any bear traps. So far, the situation had gotten really bad, what with the kid still missing and that weird creature wondering around, but he hoped it hadn't got any worse on their part.

--

The closing of another trap wasn't what startled Jill so. It was rather the cry that accompanied the sound, not so far away. "Did you hear that?" she asked Brad, already breaking into a jog, dragging her partner behind her.

She turned on the radio, saying, "Captain, I think we've got a trace, either the kid or that animal..." Someone definitely got caught in the trap, from what she could judge not very far from here. She didn't get a response over the radio though. Just static. "Hey Brad, come on, we'll check this out!"

That cry sounded terribly human to Brad. Most surely the lost kid got caught in one of those bear traps. Of course this was going to be painful, probably the boy had a broken leg, but at least it was a good sign: it meant Mrs Poiler's son was still alive. Holding on to this thought Brad swiftly jogged after Jill.

As the two arrived Brad froze in panic... _Oh no, this can't be_... His hopes gone at the sight of Captain Wesker himself drenched in his own blood. He felt like fainting, unable to move an inch forward.  
This was going to be so much worse than he expected.

"...there needs to be a mechanism," Wesker breathed, sliding his own fingers along the construction. He couldn't see it though; his foot was in the way. The part that stood out. Was it fractured, broken? Everything down his knee was a big ball of pain, how could he tell?

"Shit... if it's broken...," he trailed off, silently wishing that it wasn't, "You'll need to fix it, alright? You'll need to set it back."

Chris stared at his Captain like he was insane. Chris wasn't exactly a medic, he hadn't a clue how to set bones. All he knew was how to bandage stuff up but set bones?

And to top it off, his Captain just swore. If the situation was anything other than this, then he would have laughed and handed twenty bucks to Jill.

Dropping the radio into the damp grass, Chris took a deep breath. "Sir, with all do respect, if I attempt to set that bone, I'll probably just make it worse. I'll try and find that mechanism...just, don't move."

The marksman moved back a little to get a better view of the trap. Trying not to jar it, or move it, he slid his hand under and felt around for the release. Green eyes widening slightly as he found it, he nodded to his Captain. "Found it, this might hurt..."

_Course it's gonna hurt, there's metal spikes in his leg, and they're about to be ripped out!_

Wesker didn't get beyond a frantic "Wait-" before Chris pushed the release open and the metal jaws let go of his leg with a wet snap. His words transformed into a groan when the lock opened. drawing the leg back on instinct, both of his hands shot up to the wound, applying pressure. The blood was oozing through, colouring his hands crimson and dripping to the ground beneath.

"Shit, goddamn, Chris, I told you to wait!" he growled, clenching his teeth, not so much out of anger for the marksman, but rather from the pain that had reached inconceivable levels. He barely noticed Brad's and Jill's arrival and cared even less for it at the moment.

"Get me something to wrap it up, _now_!"

Jill, who had been awestruck and open-mouthed by the scene, shook off the momentary shock. She risked a glance to Brad beside her, who looked as white as a paper. "Shit, don't faint! Help him!" she said rather loudly, punching Brad in the ribs to gain his attention.

Jill's punch woke him as a bucket of ice cold water.  
_Help him, help him, help him_ he repeated himself unfastening the small pouch attached to his belt. Lucky enough he always carried a first aid kit when they were heading for action.  
"S..sorry!...Here!!" he cried handing Chris some clean bandages.

Chris was now rather wishing he'd listened. Cursing loudly, he grabbed the bandages and set them down, saving them for when the bleeding was lessened and they'd hold the wound shut, already knowing it wouldn't be enough…

_Use your shirt twit!_

Even as the thought came to him, the marksman was already throwing his Kevlar vest to the side and removing his STARS t-shirt, tearing it into strips. Chris pushed the trouser leg up and glanced at the wound, expecting to see bone. Instead he saw a mangled shin guard. He breathed a sigh of relief and managed to remove what was left of it, forcing himself to ignore the cold. He'd caused the damage, so he'd suffer if it meant he could save his Captain.

Alyssa stood, completely paled by what she had accidentally caused. The creature thing forgotten for the moment, she immediately took off the top jacket part of her business suit and knelt down by Wesker, handing the material to Chris. What was left on her was a simple black camisole shirt.

"Use this, it's thicker," she said to Chris. Chris nodded and with an apologetic look to the reporter, tore the jacket into useable bandage type strips. While doing so, he glanced at the blonde, checking he was still awake.

"Alyssa, make sure he stays awake, keep him talking, don't let him close his eyes, remove the damn shades if you have to. If he gets pissed he can take it out on me when he's not bleeding."

"Help me up, damnit, don't waste time..." Wesker continued to ignore the reporter, and Chris's words to her. _Keep it together, no shock, patch up the leg, stop the blood. _His voice was shaky. _Please no shock yet, not now, can't use this_, "Need to look at it closely... fix the bleeding. Keep the bandages for later. There's a cabin nearby. Need to check the leg there, blow off mission, call in support..."

Chris blinked, trying to understand the rush of orders. "Brad, keep the shirt. Jill, help me get him up. Alyssa, scout ahead with Brad for the Cabin, watch out for traps." He looked at the panicking Brad, wondering yet again why on earth he was still in STARS. "Brad, radio Barry. Get him and Frost to head to this cabin."

While speaking, he tied the last few strips above and below the bandaged wound to stem the flow. "Jill, on three." he ordered, grabbing one of Wesker's arms and looping it over his neck. " One, two, _three_."

Letting himself be hoisted up by Chris and Jill, Wesker moaned as both his leg and head started to throb. The world distorted for a moment, causing him to lean on Chris more than he wanted. Just the bloodloss, keep it together. Got to hold it for a few steps.

He didn't dare to place the leg on the floor. Just because the bone hadn't gone through flesh and skin didn't mean it wasn't broken at all. Not to mention that he didn't want to experience the pain of forcing weight on it now.

Chris vaguely remembered why Wesker had gotten into the trap, and he doubted Wesker would want the reporter right next to him when he was in pain. Probably just another news story. Oh joy.

Alyssa made a motion to follow Brad, but stopped, looking back at Chris with frightened eyes. "Some... _thing_ chased me from the car! It's probably coming this way! We shouldn't stay here!"

Well, it hadn't _really_ chased her from the car, but currently it wouldn't be helpful to tell them that she had wandered into the woods when she wasn't supposed to. Alyssa glanced behind her for a second, straining her ears to hear that clicking sound the thing had made while it chased her. She didn't like the fact that she couldn't hear anything. It could be anywhere.

"Barry. Brad here do you copy? Captain Wesker's injured we're heading to a nearby cabin. Get here ASAP!"  
Running for the cabin Brad wondered why was he still in STARS...

Something chasing them? _Not now…_Wesker thought. _I can't deal with that as well.._.

"Damn, wait," he suddenly said, trying to look around. "The Colt." He'd dropped it. Never drop your weapon, you idiot, his mind scolded.

Jill let go of Wesker and turned to Chris, "You get him to the cabin, I'll go get the gun."

"Might want to get mine too. I kind of threw it along with the radio. Panicked." Chris bit down on his lip in embarrassment. He'd panicked when his Captain was hurt, and it had almost cost Wesker his life. Right now he felt worse than Chickenheart.

"We'll see you at the cabin, be careful." He gave her a last smile, and short of actually lifting Wesker over his shoulder, managed to support his Captain enough for the other to walk on his good leg alone.

The walk to the cabin lasted an eternity. For Wesker, an eternity consisting of pain. Every step hurt, even if he didn't use the leg and he could only guess that the squishy substance that had started accumulating in his boot was blood. Which wasn't good.

"Faster," he ordered Chris.

The cabin was up ahead and they entered, Wesker setting himself down on the dusty sofa. Infection, great. Get working. The cabin was sparsely decorated. It consisted of one big room that was kitchen, living quarter and bedroom at once, light getting in through two windows. By the looks of it, nobody had been her for a long time.

He leant back for a moment, closing his eyes against the pain and sighed. "Check for first aid kits. Give me a minute. Need to fix it up properly." Just don't loose focus. He forced himself to open his eyes, and for the first time actively registered who had accompanied them to the cabin. Who was responsible for his current state.

Alyssa found Wesker's gaze, which she was sure was fixed into a permanent glare. She was glad she hadn't taken those sunglasses off earlier like Chris had suggested. Turning away, she pointed at the windows. "We should block the windows with something," she said, looking around for an adequate barricade.

"Did you see the thing?" she asked, almost in a gasp. Turning back around to Wesker, she continued, "I was by the car, about to leave, and it came out of nowhere. Figuring you guys had guns, I ran into the woods." Her expression took on a sincerely guilty look. "I didn't mean for... _that_ to happen," she said, glancing at Wesker's injury.

Chris's searching of the cupboards for anything that even resembled a med-kit turned up something. Pushing aside dusty dishes and cups, he located a small metallic tin with a green cross on it. "Found one!" He brushed the dust off the top and opened the case. Inside was a small roll of clean bandages, about three packaged needles, a hypodermic syringe, and a thin vial of some painkiller, probably morphine.

Returning to Wesker, Chris knelt in front of him. "I found some clean bandages and some morphine. But...I don't think I'm meant to be injecting people."

Chris, he didn't find her story very likely, but it was up to Wesker to believe her or not.

The only response Alyssa got so far was silence and the penetrating glare from Wesker. So she'd seen it? Or was she making it up along the way? The Hunter wouldn't have taken to the village just yet. They'd heard its scream from the opposite direction.

He decided to delay his answer as Chris came back with a med-kit. "Morphine is good," he said. His voice was still shaky. It wasn't a good sign and he couldn't afford to go into shock with a Hunter around. "Pull up the morphine... I'm going to do it myself." Anything to clear his mind.

Once he was handed the syringe and found a vein with some difficulty, Wesker put the used item beside him on the sofa. "It'll start working in a few minutes... we need to tie up the leg afterwards. Stop the bleeding if it hasn't done so."

"As for you," he started, glancing at the reporter, feeling the anger rise, "I didn't think you'd sink so low as to assault a STARS member for a story. You've disregarded my orders multiple times and this is the best excuse you've come up with? A thing attacked you? In the village? With all the others around? Just do me a favour and cut the crap, I'm in no mood for stories."

Chris turned his head and stared at her. "You pushed Wesker into a trap...for a story?!" The marksman got to his feet, glaring at her angrilly.

"You know, I didn't think anyone would sink so low as to hurt another person just to have something to improve their worthless little career. But evidently I was wrong!" he growled, advancing on her. "Just because your job is failing, just because you can't get a decent story, you go off and push Wesker, the STARS Captain, one of the most famous men in Raccoon, in to a bloody bear trap just for a story!" Chris's voice grew louder with every word, until he was almost yelling at the top of his voice. "He could have lost his leg! Do you realise that?! How could you be so...so _stupid_?! So _selfish_?!" Ah the famous Redfield Family anger cropping to the surface.

Alyssa gaped at him. "Are you fucking kidding me?!" She really didn't register that she was yelling back at Chris, but her own temper had found a breaking point. "Don't insult me! I _told_ you, there's _something_ out there, and it chased me over here! You heard it scream, didn't you?!"

The _nerve_ of these people! Sure she was pretty ambitious when it came to her job, but did she honestly look like the damn paparazzi to them? "Besides, only a _nutcase_ would push a police officer into a bear trap for a story! I crashed into him while I was running from that thing!"

_Shit, they're not gonna believe me._ Sighing, Alyssa continued, lowering her voice to a more calm tone. "Look, I know this sounds crazy. I don't know what the hell it is, but it could be what killed Mr. Poiler. We have to get the rest of the team in here before it gets to them too!"

Apparently, the pain in the leg wasn't enough. A headache was brewing, working hard to pump his brain out by his ears. The throbbing almost overpowered the others' words and Wesker grimaced as the discussion erupted into a yelling duel.

"Shut up, both of you!" he snapped. "First off, _you_ won't say another word, Miss Ashcroft. You've caused enough trouble for one day. Shut up, sit in that corner and wait for further instructions. If you'll go against my orders _again_ I'll have you handcuffed and throw you out of the cabin myself."

"Brad, get in contact with the rest and keep guard at the door, see if they're approaching. Chris, you'll help me get a decent bandage on the leg and then we're _all_ going back to the RPD."

"Alright," he said, looking down at the bloody mess, mentally preparing himself for what was to come. "I'm going to tell you what to do and you'll do it, regardless of the pain it might cause, understood? That's an order. Cut off the makeshift bandage, wipe away the excess blood with it. Don't let the amount scare you, it will be a great deal. Then take the clean bandages and wrap them around tightly. And Chris, I mean tightly. It won't stop bleeding otherwise." He gave the Alpha a serious look, then continued. "If it's much blood I might black out. Finish your work, then get me back awake."

Chris nodded. "Yes sir." he cleared his throat and turned away from the reporter, pushing aside his anger for her and knelt in front of his Captain, mentally preparing himself. He got out the bandages and set them to the side and took the shirt from Brad in case he needed it for padding.

Glancing up at Wesker, he unsheathed his combat knife and slid it under the sodden bandages, and with a deft movement, cut them off.

He dropped the knife and used the bandages to mop the area around the wound as fast as he could and started winding the bandages as tightly as he could, muttering apoligies for the pain he knew he was causing.

Wesker kept his eyes shut and tried to think of something else as Chris began to work on his leg. He twitched slightly when the knife touched his skin, but didn't say anything. The morphine was luckily beginning to daze him, so that the pain was bearable for most of the time. When Chris undid the makeshift bandage Wesker shuddered, feeling how the blood began to flow down his leg again, despite Chris' efforts to wipe it away. He moaned slightly when the Alpha member touched, what he supposed, was one of the holes the metal jaws had left, but knew that it was inevitable.

Tightening the new bandage brought more pain than the morphine could suppress. He took a sharp breath and let it out again slowly, keeping his eyes closed. One minute, one more minute at most. A welcoming light-headedness enclosed his mind, blocking some of the pain out. One more minute, then it'd be over...

Chris grabbed the shirt and got it around the leg so it would provide some small padding in case it was knocked against anything. He glanced up at his Captain, unable to tell if he was awake or unconscious because of those sunglasses.

"Captain? Your done, that should hold it for now. You hanging in there?" he asked, standing up and tapping Wesker's shoulder lightly. "As soon as the others get back, we'll radio for a chopper. Might be a bit much but with that leg, you need to get a doctor to see it. "

--

End of Chapter 2

Transcribed by Laraanita

Roleplayed by:

Emerald: Joseph & Alyssa

Chaed: Wesker & Jill

1sttruth: Barry

MA121: Brad

Laraanita: Chris


	3. Chapter 3

-1Barry sprinted through the trees, his arms pumping for more momentum as his legs began to pick up the pace. He crashed through bushes, shrubs and undergrowth as he headed for the direction he believed was the cabin.

He looked over his shoulder behind him to see Joseph was following behind him, keeping up with Barry's pace very well. He turned back to face forward, running through a gap between an encirclement of trees onto a small hiking path, the dirt road going off in three different directions, grass and weeds poking out from cracks in between the stones; one direction went further into the woods, another roughly towards the city whilst the last-

"There's the cabin!" he exclaimed happily, pointing at the small structure nestled between some trees. He dashed towards the door, waving his arms frantically, an overjoyed smile gracing his face. "Guys! It's us! We're here!" he called, reaching the front door and opening it up to the simple room inside.

He had expected many things when he met up with his team, but he had not expected to see Alyssa Ashcroft seated in the corner of the room and Captain Wesker laid down on the sofa, Chris and Jill standing around him nervously, his leg wrapped up tight in make-shift bandages and stained crimson with blood.

"What the -"

Jill barged into the cabin, holding Wesker's gun and Chris's equipment, interrupting Barry and Chris. Her expression was serious, eyes darting towards the Captain when she entered. "He alright?" she asked Chris in a low voice. She couldn't tell whether Wesker was awake or sleeping because of the sunglasses. "I've got some uncomforting news," she continued eyeing Chris and Brad. "Animal's been there, sniffing at the blood after we were gone. It left some tracks, but I didn't think it was wise following it alone."

Barry nodded. "What happened?" he asked lowly.

"Miss Ashcroft over there shoved Wesker into a bear trap. If he hadn't been wearing shin guards, he'd have a broken leg as well." Chris shot a dirty look at the aforementioned reporter. "All for a story." he muttered darkly. He was pretty much convinced of that now, of course, it could be that this was what Wesker thought, and Chris was fiercely loyal to the blonde STARS Captain, and would be until the end.

Of course, what Chris refused to acknowledge was the fact that Wesker had lost a lot of blood because he hadn't listened to his Captain when he said to wait. Or rather, he didn't want to deal with the fact he'd almost killed his Captain because he'd basically disobeyed an order.

Wesker had meanwhile stretched out on the sofa, not adding anything to the discussion. Jill guessed the blood loss had gotten to him. Judging by the crimson cloth discarded on the ground, the trap had mauled him pretty well. She could imagine what pain he must be in.

Joseph's eyes widened to the size of saucers. "Are you _serious_?" He glanced over at the reporter, who was sitting with her arms crossed and looking angry and somewhat defiant. He figured she was ambitious, but... _damn_.

_Shouldn't she be arrested?_ he idly wondered. When Chris explained the situation, she muttered, "Believe what you want. I know what I saw."

Joseph cocked his head in confusion, and when Jill mentioned the animal sniffing the blood left behind, he asked the female S.T.A.R.S, "Were you able to figure out what kind of animal it was?" He could still hear it's horrible screech in his mind and he involuntarily shuddered.

"It was some kind of reptile," said Alyssa, sounding serious. "But you won't believe me if I described it anyway."

Joseph furrowed his eyebrows. A reptile made some kind of sense, judging by the tracks he and Barry spotted on the ground. The only thing he could really think of was an alligator that somehow stood up right.

Jill shook her head, "I'm not the best tracker, but I don't think whatever this is, is normally inhabiting Raccoon Forest. My only concern is that it could follow us. We left a nice trail of breadcrumbs in form of the Captain's blood." She glanced over at Wesker, then back to her STARS colleagues, "Guess we can take it out at least."

"Great, for all we know, we have a mini Godzilla running around out there, and now its coming here." Chris ran a hand through his rather short hair. Sighing, the marksman turned to Alyssa.

"Look, I shouldn't have yelled like that. My temper gets the best of me sometimes...and, I'm sorry. You didn't mean to push Wesker into the trap. I was just looking for someone to blame other than me for his situation." Chris swallowed and looked at his fellow STARS members. "When I opened the trap, I wasn't prepared for the amount of blood there was, so our Captains state is somewhat my fault..."

_If Wesker dies, will I be able to live with myself?_ Chris asked himself, glancing worriedly at his Captain.

Wesker, meanwhile, had reached a state that could nearly be described as pleasant. Well, not exactly pleasant, but the pain had dulled down to a slight throb and the voices were finally getting silent. He caught a fragment of 'blood' and 'reptile', but didn't care much about it. Right now, he just wanted to get away from it all, give in to the tiredness.

Chris turned away from the conversation, frowning at Wesker. "Captain?" he muttered, hovering over Wesker worriedly. "Captain you have to stay awake." he spoke a little louder, taking hold of Wesker's arm and shaking it gently, enough to wake him and yet not jar the leg.

Not for the first time that day, Chris wished they had a medic on their team. Bravo had just gotten one, where was theirs?

"Come on Wesker, don't make me sing." he joked. Claire always said his singing sounded like a cat getting flattened slowly by a steamroller.

He was about to accept the darkness' invitation, when somebody shook at his arm, startling him awake. "Yeah, alright, I'm alright..."

Deciding that it was best to get up into a sitting position, Wesker did so, trying - unsuccessfully - to ignore the now increasing throbbing. He shivered slightly as a trickling sensation ran down his leg, but kept quiet about it.

The journalist unconsciously touched her cheek with her palm, wincing as she had forgotten that the sharp bushes had scratched her face. "Okay, I wasn't exactly at the car," she admitted, but explained, "Mrs. Polier came to _me_, and we talked in her backyard. She told me that one of the neighbor's ex-husbands disappeared in this forest a month ago when she chased him out of the house. Then she went next door to stay with her neighbor, the one who called the _Daily Raccoon_ in the first place."

Alyssa still wasn't going to admit that she wandered into the forest of her own free will. She knew that had been stupid on her part, and she wasn't about to swallow her pride. Instead she blamed Kurt. "Like I said earlier. I was in the backyard. I heard the damn thing scream from somewhere in the forest. I figured I should head back to the car and maybe tell Irons or Bravo team back at the station what was going on, but as I turned around, there it was!"

"I didn't get a good look at it, because it started to chase me. It was bipedal, I know that much." Alyssa narrowed her eyes, trying to remember. She distinctly remembered the sounds it made and that musky smell it gave off when it was close. "It didn't have snout, not like an alligator or a lizard. If anything it was like a frog. But with claws. Big ones."

The reporter sighed and hung her head, staring at her lap. "I know. That sounds ridiculous."

"Frog with claws..." Wesker echoed, having caught only the end of Alyssa's explanation. "Anybody contacted the RPD yet?" he asked instead, massaging his temples. Migraine on the way. "Are there any painkillers left... morphine?"

"I'll check sir." The marksman scooped up the med-kit tin and checked the vial. "There's enough left for at least one more shot sir." he informed Wesker, already changing the hypodermic needle for a fresh one and loading it with the blessed pain removal drug. Getting it free of air, he handed it to the blonde and turned to the others, waiting to see if anyone had contacted base, while thinking about the 'frogs with claws' comment.

Frankly it made no sense. Frogs didn't have claws and weren't that big. _Maybe the chemical plant dumped nuclear waste and a frog got caught in it...great, try explaining that to the public. 'Oh yes the killer was just a radioactive frog'_ Chris felt stupid just thinking it.

Barry walked over to the window, pulling back the curtains, looking out at the trees around them. Seeing nothing, he looked back at Chris and Wesker.  
"Not yet, sir. I'll give it a try. I'll be back in two seconds," he stated, stepping over to the door.

As his hand rested on the doorknob, he glanced at Alyssa, a sympathetic look on his face.  
"Listen, Miss Ashcroft. I know that Chris has gotten on your nerves, but don't mind him, he just needs to control his temper. And I do doubt that you would hurt the Captain on purpose just for a story, but yo have to understand, this is a dangerous situation we're in, so we have to work together if we want to get back to the city," he explained.

Wesker took the syringe from Chris, but instead of injecting it, he slipped the needle cover back on, and placed it into one of his vest pockets. He should keep it for later. He needed a clear head now. Nodding an approval to Barry to go out and check the radio, Wesker considered their possibilities. Sooner or later the Hunter would pick up the scent of blood, if it hadn't yet. By now, Wesker was sure he couldn't prevent his team from seeing it anymore. He was in no condition to lead them away from the BOW, and even if he tried, the creature would follow them easily. Looking down at his leg, he grimaced. The blood hadn't seeped through the new bandages yet, but they had certainly left a trail leading to the cabin.

Barry returned with ill news. "I can't get through to the RPD. I tried three times but the signal won't go through. It's all white noise on our end, so we might be on our own," he stated grimly.

Wesker couldn't help but sigh and brush a hand through his damp hair in frustration. Shit. Did that mean they were alone with a Hunter that acted solely on bloodlust?

From his sitting position, he tried to force some weight on the leg. The response was a bolt of pain shooting up all the way to his head, but that was to be expected. He didn't think it was fractured, which was good, considering that he would have to relay on it.

The next step turned out to be worse than he had planned. It included standing up and strain the leg completely. He managed, with the side effects of his vision blurring and becoming spotty for a moment and the throbbing in his leg resonating in his ears.

"We're leaving now," he said in the best commanding tone he could manage through gritted teeth. "There'll be no support from the RPD on this one and I don't want to wait for whatever is out there to pay us a visit. Joseph and Chris take the lead, Barry and Jill will cover us from behind. You," he said, nodding into Alyssa's direction, "in front of me, where I can see you. Vickers behind me, in a supportive manner if it has to be. Everybody equip secondary weapons. Come on, move, we don't have all day." And frankly, he wanted to get this over with as long as the first dose of morphine still showed an effect.

Chris took his gun from Jill and his radio too, slipping the useless transmitter into its place on his belt. Before they moved out, the marksman was sure to give his Captain back the magnum, feeling that he might be needing it.

Packing up the small amount of medical supplies from the kit, and retrieving his knife from the floor, Chris glanced at Joseph to make sure he was ready and pulled the door open, scanning ahead and to the side with a sweep of his gun. He was pleased to note it was free from any mini Godzillas or radioactive frogs.

Joseph was more than happy to have his secondary weapon out, his trusty assault rifle. Big frogs or no, he was confident they could handle whatever came their way. He gave a brief thumbs up to Chris before scanning the trail before them for any sign of the supposed frog-thing.

Barry checked his weapons to see if they were loaded and ready, slapping the clips home when he was sure and stepped in next to Jill, waiting for the team to move out.

He still felt that sense of fear creeping up on him again, lessened by his team-mates around him, but it was still there. Lost in the middle of the wilderness, no contact with the police and Wesker was injured. And with the reporter, an inexperienced civilian now with them, in addition to that weird 'frog-monster' Alyssa talked about, things couldn't get any worse.

But he wasn't going to let that get in the way. He had a loving family to go home to and he was not going to die without watching his daughters grow up to have a happy life in Raccoon City. He felt in his breast pocket for his family photo, rubbing his fingers against it for good luck and stepped outside to follow his team.

Alyssa followed them out, keeping in front of Wesker as he asked her to. Frankly, she would have preferred to have a gun, considering the creature she had seen, but being surrounded by the heavily armed S.T.A.R.S team would have to do for now. Before even exiting the cabin, she took her jacket back from Chris, which hadn't been used for Wesker's leg. He had ripped part of it for bandages, making it unusable for everyday work purposes, but she had items in it's pockets that she had forgotten about; her tape recorder and a small disposable camera. She wore the damaged piece of clothing without indicating to the team that she had the devices. In her pants pocket she also had a set of lock picks - whatever good that'll do in the middle of a forest...

In retrospect, standing up had been a very bad idea. Walking proved difficult and introduced the STARS Captain to new levels of pain, not to mention that apart from limping his foot slipped in the boot every time he placed it on the ground. Blood must have gotten into the shoe at some point. At least it hadn't soaked through the new bandages yet.

Holding the Colt in his right hand, he used the left to balance out the limping movement. Alright, so he'd underestimated it. There was no way he could run in case of danger. Frankly, he doubted he would even be able to walk the distance towards the cars on his own. On the way to the cabin he had lost track of direction. He hoped Chris and Joseph knew where they were going. He sure as hell wasn't in the mood for any long drawn hiking tour through the woods.

Then, breaking the silence, was the guttural snarl of the Hunter, suddenly all around them.

"Oh you gotta be shittin' me." Chris froze, not even sure where to aim his gun. He must have looked like a fool, as much as he felt like one. After using his shirt as a bandage, he was left wearing only his bullet proof vest, and he knew how odd that must have looked.

Judging from the snarl all around them, either there was a large number of the beasts or it was damn fast. He silently motioned to his team-mates to form a protective ring about Alyssa and the injured Captain. The last thing they needed was for him to be killed, or the defenceless reporter.

A small idea hit him then. Unsheathing the combat knife, he handed it to Alyssa. "Take it," he muttered. "Aim for the throat if it gets past us..." He didn't want to say that if it got past the specially trained squad then she was as good as dead, might as well give her hope.

Barry snapped his weapon around behind him, the roar echoing all around them in the gloomy woods. He really shouldn't have said 'things couldn't get any worse', saying that phrase always brought trouble down on the person who said it. Like a very bad curse.

He stepped into the protective ring between Jill and Brad, facing the trees in front of him, hoping that the growl was only an echo of it roaring somewhere else. But he knew that he couldn't fool himself, since the sound was most definitely close to them.

He raised his rifle, finger lightly resting on the trigger, ready to fire if he saw it, and scanned the trees, seeing nothing for the moment. He then looked up at the treetops-

-and his jaw dropped in horror as he noticed a crouched monster perched on one of the thick oak branches near the treetops. He slowly reached over to Jill's shoulder and tapped it, then doing the same for Brad, before he pointed at the creature with one shaky hand.

Wesker rested a finger on the trigger of his Colt, keeping the gun aimed at the creature that sat on one of the branches in front of them. Now STARS had seen what he had been unsuccessful at hiding.

The Hunter regarded them from its place in the tree, gurgling dangerously. Estimating the danger before attacking, he thought. STARS formed a defensive circle, slowly, carefully, trying not to trigger whatever would make the thing attack. He reached out for Alyssa's arm and tugged at it, motioning for her to get behind him. He couldn't afford her freaking out now. She was a civilian, untrained, panicked, her actions unpredictable.

Chris's darting eyes noticed Barry's expression. Not many things could get Barry to look worried, so he knew that it was the thing that had been hunting them, chasing them, screaming it's threats through inhumane screeches.

_Oh god it IS a mini Godzilla_ was the first thought that came into mind as he stared, transfixed by the long, cruel claws, its scaly skin glittering slightly.

The second thought that came to his head was hissed at his team mates. "Shoot it, it'll attack otherwise." And with that, he opened fire.

Then the shots started, bullets filling the air - the Hunter was gone. "Hold your fire!" Wesker barked in anger, trying to locate the BOW in the maze of trees. It was nowhere to be seen. "Goddamn, you've provoked it now." And screwed perhaps his only chance to get a clear shot in. Wesker growled in pain and frustration, but it didn't make the Hunter come back.

_Okay, defensive circle: good, shooting at that thing: bad_ Now they had Wesker's wrath to deal with as well as that thing, whenever it came back.

Or rather, Chris had to deal with it. Perhaps ordering an attack on Froggy hadn't been a good idea after all. On second thoughts Chris would rather go jam his legs in multiple bear traps than face Wesker's anger.

The fact that the Hunter disappeared was everything else from good. Now it knew what it was dealing with, and even had experience of how to do so successfully. It had taken down two men of Umbrella's Special Ops, soldiers trained to handle exactly these situations. Though STARS were the best when it came to normal operations, they had never dealt with something like this before. Not to mention that the team was burdened by the civilian and slowed down by his injury.

"Keep this formation," Wesker spoke. "Let's go. The sooner we're out, the better. Be prepared for hostile behavior. Miss Ashcroft, keep in the middle."

They started walking - limping in Wesker's case - again, slower this time, to preserve the defensive circle. The Hunter didn't wait much. This time it appeared in front of them, blocking the way towards the village. The BOW reared up on its hind legs and roared, before jumping into the trees. One second later it was above them, leaping from the branch, right into their defensive circle.

"Split!" Wesker ordered, taking a step back on instinct so as not to get hit by the descending creature. His leg protested in pain, but he ignored it for the moment. He managed to grab Alyssa at the collar of her torn jacket, roughly pulling her back too. The other STARS had underwent year long training to perfect their reflexes. He doubted that she had, too.

Alyssa yelped as Wesker pulled her back by her collar, but shot him a grateful expression when it registered to her that he had pulled her out of the creature's path. Still, there as no time for anything else, as they could only run. Joseph had managed to throw himself away from the Hunter's path, it's claw just barely ripping at his vest. The thick material was enough to protect him from what would have been a deadly swipe had he taken a second longer to evade.

Barry leapt aside with practiced ease, as the monster leapt at their defensive circle, screeching that horrible cry it had and Wesker barked out his orders. It flew through the air at them, swiping with its claws to tear them apart brutally like it did to Mr Poiler, sinister red and yellow slitted-eyes glaring at them with a primeval hunger and fury. He caught a glimpse of the others as they scattered as well, running for the trees whilst the creature landed in a crouch on the dirt, claws raking against the dirt, dark-green pebbled skin glinting in the light.

Joseph stood and ran after Chris and Jill into an underbrush, turning back around with his assault rifle when he joined them and aiming back at where they had been standing in the trail. No sign of the thing again.

"You all right?" he asked them, breathing heavily from the sudden occurrence.

--

Barry spun around to glance at the others, seeing Wesker take Alyssa with him and Brad into the woods, Chris and Jill hurrying into the underbrush, Joseph right behind. Assured the others were safe, Barry hurried into the trees, hoping to God or whoever was listening to his prayers, that the creature wouldn't chase him or the others.

**--**

Chris spun around and pointed his weapon back at the spot on the trail where they stood, searching for any sign of the creature. The creature was gone, having possibly leapt into the treetops again. He lowered his weapon and wiped the sweat from his forehead, glancing at Joseph.

"I'm fine. Thanks," he answered. He took in a few deep breaths to calm down his shocked nerves and looked around the trees for the others, seeing Jill sitting on a fallen log, taking in deep breaths as well, Wesker sat on the dirt, nursing his injured leg with Alyssa and Brad standing over him, and Barry coming towards them at a brisk pace.

Chris jogged up to Barry and patted his shoulder. "You okay?" he asked.

Barry nodded at his best friend, patting his shoulder in response. They headed back over to Joseph and Jill, Chris keeping watch for the creature and Barry stepping over to Jill, his expression looking concerned.

"Are you alright Jill?" he asked.

Jill looked up at him and smiled reassuringly. "Yeah. I'm okay. Just shaken up a little."  
She had never really expected to see such a hideous creature, but after hearing that screeching cry, she found the creature's appearance to be very suitable to the cry. Taking a few more deep breaths to calm her fast-beating heart, she took her beret off her head and run a hand through her hair.

She looked up at Barry, seeing he wasn't injured, Chris seeming unhurt, but when she glanced at Joseph and noticed the large scratches in the back of his vest, she hurried to his side.

"Joe, are you hurt!?" she asked urgently, looking at his back for injuries.

"I-I'm fine," said Joseph, turning his head to try and look at his back. He rotated his shoulder experimentally, and feeling no pain, he added, "It only cut through the material."

Wesker took deep gasping breaths, trying to calm down. He'd let himself slump to the ground as soon as the Hunter had been out of sight. Normally, a lethal decision, but this time it had been supported by the sudden lack of adrenaline and the literal explosion of pain in his leg when he had twisted it wrongly at one point. Running had been a bad idea to begin with, but there hadn't really been another choice. The result was visible. He was alive and the bandage showed first spots of crimson here and there.

Jill's urgent tone caught his attention and Wesker frowned at Joseph's clawed vest, feeling momentary panic rising up. Infection? But no, no, the virus was only transmitted through bodily fluids, the Alpha member had only been swiped at, and even then-

"We need to get out of here," he said, shaking off the thought. No infections today. "We'll come back with additional firepower, but right now we need to retreat."

Brad stepped forward, his face paler than Wesker thought possible. "There's a facility nearby. I've seen it while flying over the forest once. Seemed pretty sturdy. Surely metal doors. We can barricade ourselves in there."

Wesker barely kept himself from negating the suggestion right away, knowing all too well what Brad was talking about. The Umbrella Training Facility, closed down for the recent years. With reason. He didn't know whether going to the Training Facility wasn't worse than dealing with the Hunter. Alone for all the information that was there, and the memories.

"We should try to get to the cars. Call in support," he said.

Jill looked up, her expression thoughtful, then decided. "With all due respect, sir, we can try and contact the RPD from that place. They'll send in the artillery if we don't report anyway, and in our current state - the civilian, your leg - I don't want anything bad to happen." She stopped after the last sentence, knowing that she was getting too emotional. But secretly, she was up for anything else that would spare her facing that thing.

Joseph nodded in agreement with Jill, pulling out the radio and turning it on, only to demonstrate static. He thought about asking anyone in their group if they had a functioning cell phone, but out in the forest there would be no signal, especially if they couldn't even get a decent radio one.

Wesker grimaced, a mixture of both pain and disagreement. Get STARS barricade themselves in one of the company's old estates? Drag a reporter along, who complicated things even more? If he survived this they would put a gun to his head and pull the trigger for unwarrantable actions.

Just as he was going to tell STARS of his ultimate decision, the Hunter decided to add its two cents to the discussion; in the form of a screech and then a sudden appearance out of the underbrush - blocking the way that led to Raccoon.

"Run!" he ordered, "Back cover, two! Brad, lead!" Wesker tried to get up, forcing his bad leg as little as possible, which in this situation turned out to be almost impossible. But better in pain than dead...

Brad didn't need the Captain to repeat himself. "This way!" he said as he started running through the forest. The only thing he could think of was to put a thick wall between himself and that over sized frog.

Chris shoved Alyssa in front of him and Jill, forcing the two women to run ahead of him. If Froggy managed to catch up to them, then, because he was last in the group, it would claw him first, not Jill. With any luck, Jill would have time to shoot it before it caught her. Chris was more than willing to lay down his life for his team, but Jill especially. She meant a lot to him, just as much as Claire, but in a different way. The marksman didn't quite know how to explain it, so he didn't try. He just knew that he'd rather himself hurt than her.

Alyssa gasped and ran ahead at Chris' urging, gripping the knife he gave her so hard that she could feel her knuckles begin to strain. Barry, just ahead of Chris, turned only for a moment to take a shot at the creature. The round hit the Hunter's legs, making the creature cry out and stumble, but in the end that did nothing to deter it. As if immune to pain itself, the thing continued to give chase, though at somewhat of a slower pace.

Joseph turned to fire as well, but Barry shouted, "No! What if there are more?" They would need the ammo, especially if they were all just as hard to kill. Joseph looked surprised at the possibility but didn't argue. They continued to follow Brad's lead to the facility he had mentioned.

Jill didn't need a written invitation to turn around and break into a run, pulling Wesker up on her way and doing her best to support him so they could keep up with the speed. She looked at Alyssa for support who was running on the Captain's other side, motioning for her to let go of the knife and help.

Behind her Jill heard shots and then a scream, but didn't turn around to see how badly hit the creature was. Something different had caught her attention.

"There! There, I can see it!" The facility! It was right in front of them!

"Get inside!" Chris yelled, eyeing the large building, feeling slightly...odd about it. There was an air about it he didn't particularly like but with Froggy closing in on them, they needed to get the Captain inside and fast.

Spinning and running backwards for a few paces, the marksman unloaded three rounds into the beast's body, hoping to stall it enough to get the others inside.

Encouraged by Chris' shot and the Hunter's pained scream, Joseph picked up speed, reaching the door first. It was heavy and made of steel, and it screeched in protest as he forced it open. From the sound it made, he guessed that it hadn't been opened in years.

"Come on!" he urged, holding the heavy door open with his back and keeping his gun pointed outside, should the Hunter come too close to their makeshift sanctuary. Barry joined him and stood opposite of Joseph, keeping guard as well. Alyssa pulled Wesker through the doorway, not letting go until she was sure the other S.T.A.R.S made it inside and had the door closed. If they didn't make it, they would probably need to start running again.

Joseph pulled Brad inside, practically throwing him forward with his urgency. He proceeded to close the door while Barry took one last shot at the creature. He heard an impact and another scream, but didn't stick around to see what happened to it. Judging by the furious pounding on the steel door, he guessed it hadn't died yet. Cursing, Joseph threw his weight upon the door while Barry found a steel beam to reinforce it. After a few moments the creature seemed to give up and there was no longer any sound coming from the outside.

Joseph looked around for any windows, relieved that there weren't any the creature could enter through, and shocked by the interior of the facility...

"Let go," Wesker mumbled as soon as he heard the door screeching closed again. Too late now, they were in... and he needed to give in to the pain, if he stood another second Wesker was sure that the leg would just snap in two, basta and be done with it.

He let himself slump down against one of the walls, not bothering to move far away from the door. Sitting was better, taking away some of the fire that had started burning his leg and rapidly moving upwards. Hopefully not fever, he couldn't risk having fever now.

He had been dizzy for the entire run, leaning heavily on Jill and Alyssa during the last sprint and now an uncomfortable nausea crept up the back of his throat. "Shit." Just gotta say it sometimes, especially at the many blood stains that had begun building on the outer side of the bandage. He needed a damn doctor to stop the bleeding already.

Chris leant against the heavy door, panting. He was now feeling thoroughly exhausted, but at the sound of his Captain's voice, he glanced over and realised that he was in no where near as bad a condition as Wesker was.

The marksman pushed himself off the wall and sat beside Wesker, grinning boyishly. "I hope your planning on asking for a raise." he joked, feeling the need to lighten the dark atmosphere.

Brad tripped and fell face first on the floor. He took a deep breath and stood up. Everyone had made it inside. The Captain didn't look good but they could call in for support from here.  
As he looked around though, he had the odd feeling that this place wasn't going to be much safer than the forest...


End file.
